Herman Edwards yesterday compared Curtis Martin’s 196-yard effort in the Jets’ 31-24 win over the Bengals to the efforts of the great Jim Brown. Ironically, Brown phoned Martin after Sunday’s game to congratulate him.

“He knows that I’m committed to hard work,” Martin said of that conversation. “He said [to] keep it up.”

Martin has made no secret through training camp of his desire to erase the memory of last year, when he scored only two TDs the entire season. He matched that total in Week One, and No. 28 maintains that he’s healthier than ever and is ready to do some special things for the Jets this year.

“The night before [the Cincinnati game], in the meeting room,” Martin said, “I don’t know what it was, but I felt this rookie nervousness.

“It feels so much like a new beginning,” he added.

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Defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson said yesterday that his defense, which still needs some fine tuning and correcting of mistakes, is nearly 75-percent installed.

Stationed in the booth, instead of on the field, it was Henderson who orchestrated the defensive rip session on the sideline prior to Erik Coleman‘s game-saving interception.

“I got Sam [Cowart] on the phone and told him it was time they chewed a little tail out there,” Henderson said.

Of Coleman’s rebound from being burned on a long pass to making that pick at the end, Henderson said, “I’m proud of [him].”

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Don’t look for the Jets to suffer a Rutgers-like hangover defeat in San Diego and running back LaDainian Tomlinson in Week 2.

“We have to realize that winning the first game doesn’t mean we’re off to a fast start,” Chad Pennington said. “Now our goal is to go out and play in a hostile environment against a team that can run the ball.”

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Poor LaMont Jordan. Here he is, in the final year of his contract, backing up Martin, who only seems to be getting better with age. Sunday, Jordan did not get any carries and caught one pass for five yards. And he doesn’t figure to get as many carries as he’d like – again.

“It has been real tough the last three years,” Jordan said. “This year, I’m not going to concern myself with it. . . . I can just do what I do, and practice hard.”